B.C. coroner to launch inquest into two deadly sawmill blasts

Matthew Robinson, Vancouver Sun08.06.2014

Lakeland Mills in Prince George is on fire after a huge explosion occurred at around 10 p.m. on Monday, April 23, 2012David Mah
/ Special to the Sun

A large fire burns at the Lakeland Mills sawmill in Prince George, B.C., on Tuesday April 24, 2012. An explosion rocked the sawmill, setting off a fire that engulfed the facility.ANDREW JOHNSON
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

The Prince George fire department had warned Lakeland Mills about high levels of combustible wood dust in its facility for years before an explosion there claimed two lives in April.Misc

Lakeland Mills in Prince George is pictured on fire after a huge explosion occurred around 10 p.m. on Monday, April 23, 2012.File
/ Courtesy

Remains of Lakeland Mills after the Monday night explosion that killed two on April 24, 2012.David MAH
/ Special to the Sun

Lakeland Mills brand lumber is sold worldwide.David MAH
/ Special to the Sun

Lakeland Mills in Prince George is on fire after a huge explosion occurred at around 10 p.m. on Monday, April 23, 2012Brent Bataan
/ Prince George Citizen

Lakeland Mills in Prince George is pictured on fire after a huge explosion occurred around 10 p.m. on Monday, April 23, 2012.File
/ Courtesy

Water from firefighters flows from the back of Lakeland Mills on April 24, 2012.David Mah
/ Special to the Vancouver Sun

Entrances to Lakeland Mills were blocked by RCMP while preliminary fire investigation proceeded Tuesday morning.David MAH
/ Special to the Sun

Related

A coroner’s inquest into a pair of sawmill explosions that killed four workers and injured dozens more will begin next March, staff at the B.C. Coroners Service announced Wednesday.

The decision to spark the quasi-judicial hearing comes after botched WorkSafeBC investigations into the Babine Forest Products and Lakeland Mills wood dust-fuelled explosions in northern B.C. and follows a refusal by Crown counsel to approve charges in the blasts.

Angered relatives of the deceased workers, union leaders and the BC NDP had called for an independent inquiry into what had gone wrong. Instead, Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe will preside over a single inquest into the explosions that will make recommendations but not pursue fault.

“It’s really designed to hear facts and not fault-find,” said Lapointe.

“One of the values of that is people are compelled to speak. Anything they say cannot be used against them in another proceeding, so it really makes sure that all of the available information gets out.”

The evidence will be heard in the courthouse in Prince George, the city where Glenn Roche, 46, and Alan Little, 43, were killed in the April 23, 2012 Lakeland Mills explosion. Another 22 workers were injured in the blast and fire, which Crown said appeared to have been fuelled by sawdust.

About three months earlier, and just 100 kilometres away, workers Robert Luggi Jr., 45, and Carl Charlie, 42, were killed in the Babine Forest Products explosion in Burns Lake. The Jan. 20, 2012 fire injured another 20 workers, some of them with severe burns.

WorkSafeBC and the B.C. Safety Authority, which has responsibility for mill equipment, concluded that the explosion was preventable and that actions could have been taken to control the wood dust.

“There seem to be some similar issues, and (one inquest) allows us to have a fulsome review of all of the evidence and the systemic — if there are systemic — issues,” said Lapointe, who said she could not speak to the evidence and declined to specify what those similar issues may be.

The inquiry’s five-member jury will be formed by at least two or three — and ideally as many as five — people familiar with the type of work that takes place in sawmills, said Lapointe. They will hear evidence from anyone with information about the deaths and focus recommendations on things like safety issues, regulations, policies and training.

The jurors’ recommendations are not mandatory, but “they hold the weight of public opinion,” said Lapointe, adding that that’s the most compelling reason why those receiving any recommendations should take them seriously.

Lapointe said some of the workers who were present at the time of the explosions would be called as witnesses, and at least one family member for each of the workers who died will be invited to speak about the incident and about their deceased relative.

“Really this is about honouring those people,” she said.

The inquest will be broadcast in real time in Burns Lake, according to the Coroners Service.

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B.C. coroner to launch inquest into two deadly sawmill blasts

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